PDP, others destroyed civil service, says Buhari
PMuhammadu Buhari has accused past administrations of destroying institutions, including the federal civil service, and undermining delivery to the people.
In a veiled reference to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the president said: “Past administrations abused, undermined and destroyed the systems of checks and balances within the civil service that were meant to protect and preserve the interest of our citizens.”
Buhari spoke at the swearing in of eight new permanent secretaries ahead of the commencement of the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja yesterday. He noted that it was this systemic abuse of power that “enriched a few privileged individuals while at the same time, made majority of the citizens poorer and under-served. “As a result, many Nigerians lost confidence in government and its ability to deliver the required guidance and service to our people.”
Also, the president approved the redeployment of 12 permanent secretaries.
The approval was contained in a circular issued yesterday by the Head of Service of the Federation, Mrs. Winifred Oyo-ita, in Abuja.
The newly appointed top civil servants include Abel Olumuyiwa Enitan (Osun); Dr. Mohammed Dikwa (Borno); Dr. Ajani Magdalene Olor (Delta); Festus Yusuf Narai Daudu (Nasarawa) and Mbaeri Maurice Nnamdi (Imo).
Others are Dr. Bakari Wadinga (Adamawa); Babatunde Lawal (Lagos) and Umakhihe Ernest Afolabi (Edo).
The president charged: “To enable you perform, we approved the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan 2017 to 2020. This plan will ensure that the civil service is adequately manned and equipped to operate efficiently as it implements government policies for inclusive growth and development.
Reacting, the main opposition party challenged Buhari to name a single civil service achievement his administration had recorded since 2015. In a brief interview, PDP’S national publicity secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, asked: “What has he (Buhari) done in the last four years to remedy his claimed ‘destroying of institutions’?
“How has the Buhari administration helped even the people in service and those who have retired or the institutions themselves?” Human Rights Advancement, Development and Advocacy Centre (HURIDAC) and Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA) Resource Centre have written the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) over the alleged murder of an unarmed citizen by a Customs officer in Sagamu, Ogun State.
In the joint petition signed by the Executive Director of HURIDAC, Mr. Ayodele Ameen, and the Executive Director of HEDA, Mr. Olanrewaju Suraj, the groups said the act was not just against Nigerian criminal law, but also international protocol.
Seeking justice for the deceased, they contended that the move constituted extra-judicial killing under international law, which “is the killing of a person by governmental authorities without the sanction of any judicial proceedings or legal process.”